Triangle (2009)

Triangle (2009)                                                  4/5

Directed by Christopher Smith

Melissa George, Michael Dorman

In this horror thriller, Melissa George plays Jess, a single mother to an autistic child (Joshua McIvor). A friend and possible romantic interest named Greg (Michael Dorman) invites Jess to come sailing on his ship, but when a storm capsizes the boat, the people aboard need to take refuge on a passing cruise ship which seems mysteriously abandoned.

The plot is surprisingly clever, weaving an intelligent story with a good amount of twists and turns. The pacing is well executed and the film takes great care to explain any details from earlier on. It does, however, require some patience on the part of the viewer, as a result of said details which are not explained until some time into the film.

Thematically, there are one or two major points made, but depth is set at a lower priority than the admittedly intelligent plot. Motherhood, especially to a child with special needs, is the most apparent theme in the film, but even this requires hindsight after experiencing the entire film at least once.

Visually, the beginning is troublesome, involving a series of semi-coherent sequences split up by title credits on a black screen. This “back-and-forth” style creates a rather frustrating pace for establishing characters and themes. By the film’s end, however, the opening sequence makes far more sense, and is therefore forgivable. Apart from the title credits, the film is exceptionally well shot, both in terms of clarity and artistic flair. One particular sequence involving a skipping record involves some particularly intriguing editing.

The performances are appropriate for the nature of the film. Most characters have a decent level of depth relative to the characters typically found in a horror film. Melissa George plays the lead exceedingly well, demonstrating a character shift while also maintaining a consistent role as the “determined mother”. Michael Dorman plays a more subtle role, not quite reaching the point of a love interest, but appropriately so given that this is meant to be the first time the pair have seen each other outside of Jess’ waitress job. His performance is, in this respect, nicely subdued but still somewhat endearing.

Overall, Christopher Smith delivers a delightfully intelligent and entertaining film, with the added surprise of a cerebral plot that will leave its audience thinking, at least for a little while. Re-watch value seems high on this picture as well.

This review was requested by Drew Izzard.

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